Senator Visits Christ School
Van Duyn addresses wide range of issues during event
As promised, Democratic Senator Terry Van Duyn gave Christ School some "Issues to Chew On" Wednesday night.
North Carolina's Minority Whip answered questions from students for 90 minutes in Stolz Dining Hall. She addressed everything from statewide gerrymandering and the effects of HB2 legislation, to bias in the national media, climate change, economic inequality, and general procedure in government.
Van Duyn was the invited guest of the Christ School Social Justice Club for its "Issues to Chew On" supper event. The Co-Presidents of the Social Justice Club are Jacob Dowler '19 and Wyatt Gildea '19.
"It's great to have this kind of discussion," Wyatt said. "I never really feel like there's been a deficiency of it here. We're lucky to go to a school where people can speak candidly. When you have a person in power like Senator Van Duyn, that makes it even better."
"It's really exciting to have an important political figure like her come to campus," said Jacob, who knows the Senator personally. "It's interesting to see how the students interact with her. It's a great time to have these kinds of talks."
Not every boy who attended Wednesday's talk is from North Carolina. But Van Duyn had everyone at rapt attention with her concerns about the state's job market.
"One out of 11 jobs in North Carolina involves driving," she said. "We are on the cusp of self-driving cars and trucks. My husband's car can already drive itself on the highway. That loss of jobs, especially for high school graduates, petrifies me. That is a whole boatload of jobs."
Christ School's Social Justice Club is only two years old, but has about 30 regular members. Van Duyn is the biggest name yet to speak at a club function, though a former Asheville mayor came last year.
